Ohe says they want to bring a lifestyle, a fusion of the experience of what art is where people can come and mingle with the art. Katie ohe and harry kiyooka early works galleries west. Harry kiyooka, victims series, november 17 to december. Its a book club for conservatives and liberals who want to get out of their echo chambers and bridge the great divide. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe directed a magical tour of their property, studios and home and today i am still ruminating about the conversations. Katie ohe and harry kiyooka and their objects of affection. The springbank property has been their home since 1978. More than 100 works featured in the largest and most comprehensive solo exhibit of. The kiyooka ohe arts center has heart and soul and it comes from the two iconic founders. I think that i was engaged at a very personal level to this experience and so these few posts will be informative, but with a smattering of heart felt connection. Shes a teacher who makes kinetic sculptures and prints. For the past 40 years, the sculptor katie ohe has been quietly and tastefully endowing calgarys public places, galleries and private collections with dynamic contemporary sculptures that seem to have been surreptitiously crafted by an artist named anonymous. Born in calgary in 1928, harry mitsuo kiyooka is an accomplished painter and printmaker.
And now they are taking the step of not just being figurative institutions on the scene, but turning their home into a literal institution for art creation. More than 2,000 art books will become the research library. On a quiet patch of land in springbank, just west of calgary, celebrated alberta painter harry kiyooka and his wife, sculptor katie ohe, scrambled to save items from their waterlogged basement. Hes an abstract painter, art collector and art advocate. Generously, katie and harry shared their spaces with us. Time is running out to get your tickets 80% sold and going quickly. Future plans for the centre include a sculpture park, a 2,000 volume library, an artist residence and gallery to showcase their large collection of contemporary art. Meeting them is an honour and a memory to be treasured. Katie and harry are opening their studios and home to our tour group from 1. Art auction gala fundraising for new calgary contemporary.
I collect an exuberant hug from katie ohe and a solemn handshake from harry kiyooka before im swept into the ballroom. Exhibit celebrates katie ohe s 60year career as artist, teacher and mentor back to video the proposal was ultimately turned down. Growing up in smalltown northern alberta, katie always drew and painted, and at the tender age of 16 she set out for calgary to study at the alberta college of art and design in the early 1950s. Now, with plans to turn their home into an art centre, they are building a framework for future talents. Please subscribe to receive updates about the centre, events, fundraising and more. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe have dedicated their lives to art. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe have a lot of arty friends. To try to adequately write about my experience yesterday, attending the kiyooka ohe arts centre, will be a challenge. The life and legacy of katie ohe and harry kiyooka avenue calgary. An excellent article about koac appeared last year in swerve. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover harry s connections and jobs at similar companies. Katie ohe and her husband, artist, harry kiyooka, rca, created the kiyooka ohe foundation in 2007 to which the couple have donated their home, studios, property and extensive art collection to create the ko arts centre. I am exceptionally pleased to announce that the next love art in calgry tour will be to the kiyooka ohe arts centre koac. Katie ohe and harry kiyooka early works opening reception saturday, january 11 th from 2 to 5 pm artists in attendance.
More than 40 years ago, calgary artist katie ohe submitted a. If one were to look up the word passion in the dictionary, it would not be surprising to see the names katie ohe and harry kiyooka as examples of same. I am very pleased to announce that love art in calgary will be once again going on a tour of the kiyooka ohe art centre. These were no ordinary keepsakes tucked away in dusty cellar corners decades of drawings and sketchbooks were in danger of ruin.
Thats why katie and harry created the sustainable, artinnature kiyooka ohe arts centre in 2011 to provide space, to provide stimulus and to provide research material for artists and students of all ages. It follows that the art auction that accompanies the big fundraising gala for their nonprofit public arts centre is. If one were to look up the word passion in the dictionary, it would not be surprising to see the names katie ohe and harry kiyooka. Springbank artists katie ohe and harry kiyooka are donating their home and fundraising to create a new public art space near calgary, the kiyooka ohe arts centre. I was going to have lunch with katie ohe and harry kiyooka at their house the house west of calgary theyre converting to an art centre named koac. A professor emeritus of art at the university of calgary with tenure of 27 years, harry holds both undergraduate and masters degrees in arts and fine arts. K o arts centre society of calgary volunteer connector.
Exhibit celebrates katie ohes 60year career as artist. Monet and miro, a research library comprising over 2,000 art books, and. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe directed a magical tour of their property, studios and home and today i am still ruminating about the conversations, the practice and the encouragement received. Reporting on the people, issues, and events that shape our city calgary journal community newspaper. She and her husband harry kiyooka, who is also an artist, established the kiyooka ohe arts centre in springbank, just outside calgary, and are. Weeks later at acad, we sat down in the cafeteria to have an interview followup.
Katie ohe at the esker foundation in inglewood, which is presenting the first major retrospective of the 83yearold calgary artists work in more than 20 years. Katie ohe and harry kiyooka are calgary arts royalty who have taught, mentored, curated, wrote, painted and sculpted calgarys contemporary art scene. Pioneering alberta sculptor katie ohe gets her due at calgarys esker foundation. The centre will focus on fostering contemporary art in alberta and will boast an arts pavilion, studios, residencies, and an outdoor sculpture garden.
Theyve dedicated their lives to art they are turning their home into the kiyooka ohe art centre and have helped shape the art scene provincially, nationally and internationally. The koac contemporary arts centre is the vision of harry kiyooka and katie ohe and the board of koac. In 2011, they founded the kiyooka ohe arts centre koac to with the aim of promoting contemporary art. The koac is a notforprofit charity organization founded by artists and educators harry kiyooka and katie ohe.
The first time that i interviewed katie ohe, i spent a day at the kiyooka ohe arts centre with her, walking from harry kiyooka s studio to hers, through their yard, their sculpture garden and into their house. Harry kiyooka and katie ohes work has helped shape the local art scene and. Many of the artists donating work will be in attendance, so its a unique opportunity to meet and mingle with. Their work has helped shape the local, national and international art scenes. Calgary art icons to turn springbank home into art centre cbc news. Giving it all away for the arts calgary journal online. Located on a 20 acre parcel in rocky view county, the site looks out to the inspiring landscape of the canadian rockies while being located virtually on the edge of canadas fifth largest city, calgary alberta. Right now, it is where harry kiyooka and katie ohe live, two great alberta artists who have dedicated their lives to creating art and sharing it with others. Katie and harry have done so much for our community and, both visionaries, they have a commitment to leave an amazing legacy for all of us. As an artist, harry is a generational bridge figure. The kiyooka ohe arts centre is a yearround, sustainable, artinnature destination dedicated to the research, exhibition, education and documentation of contemporary visual arts. According to their website, koac is dedicated to the preservation of its surrounding environment, enriching canadian art culture and providing community programming. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe are the power couple of calgarys art world.
Katie who is 75 and harry who is 85 have dedicated their lives to art. Katie ohe, when speaking of her sculptures, touches them in such a special way and speaks about them in that manner, also. This exhibition showcases a small selection of early works by katie ohe and harry kiyooka. It is evident that she has a very close relationship with the materials and knows and loves the process of creation in a very intimate way. Hes a painter and art collector, shes a sculptor and teacher, and. Harry kiyooka and katie ohe s belief in giving back to the community at large and the friends and family who supported their careers is what prompted them to establish the kiyooka ohe arts centre koac. Ohe is known as one of the first artists to make abstract sculpture in alberta, and has been influential. Buy the book, read it, and come join us for a lively discussion. Avenue calgary, february 2016 katie ohe and harry kiyooka are incredible. Harry and katie s entire personal oeuvre of paintings and sculptures and their extensive and valuable international and canadian contemporary art collection will form the core of the artwork display at the centre. Katie ohe is a renowned canadian sculptor and one of the first artists to make abstract sculpture in alberta.
Katie ohe and harry kiyooka have dedicated their lives to art. Sculpture by the incredible katie ohe who has made art for over 60 years and resides with her. Once owned by stu hart, it was home to his extensive professional wrestling family for 52 years from. Katie ohe and harry kiyooka have graciously agreed to open their home and studios for our tour group. So at this point in our lives, we feel were in the position to give back, says katie. Harry kiyooka venetian paintings, november 26 to december 23, 2011 herringer kiss gallery, calgary while harry kiyooka b. The hart house, sometimes known as the hart mansion, is a residence located in the patterson heights neighbourhood of calgary, alberta, canada. The bulletin takes a look at his life through the eyes of his daughter fumiko, a vancouverbased filmmaker who for many years worked on reed, the life and works of roy kiyooka, a film about her father. They are also two of the warmest people ive ever met. In the 1960s calgary, then a small western canadian city where the standalone sculpture was a minor practice, katie became a catalyst for the medium, first with small figurative sculptures in bronze and aluminium inspired by protofeminist themes and later when she began experimenting with kinetic sculptures that entice viewers to touch and put in motion. Ohe is known as one of the first artists to make abstract sculpture in alberta, and has been influential as a teacher at the alberta college of art and design. View harry kiyooka s profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community.
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